Devices have been developed for removing needles from reusable syringes, commonly sold under the trademark VACUTAINER, without exposing the health care worker to infectious diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis or syphilis. However, several problems are associated with the presently available needle-removing devices: some needle-removing devices include numerous parts and are difficult to assemble and manufacture; other needle-removing devices include complicated gear systems or employ electric motors and are therefore too expensive to manufacture; some needle-removing devices are entirely manual and therefore are slow to operate; and other needle-removing devices are too complicated to operate, are prone to operator error and are not considered to be effective safety devices. What is needed is a needle-removing device that is dependable, contains few parts, is easy to manufacture and is also easy and safe to operate.
The need for devices to remove needles from reusable syringe bodies without requiring the health care worker to handle the needle arose in the advent of infectious diseases, such as hepatitis, syphilis nd more recently, AIDS, which subject health care workers to serious risks in the workplace. Simply put, a health care worker may contract a serious infectious disease if a dirty needle, just used on an infected patient, mistakenly pricks the worker's skin thereby resulting in direct contact of the infected patient's bodily fluids with the bodily fluids of the worker. The inherent risk to health care workers created a demand for a device for removing needles from syringe bodies without requiring manual handling of the used needles by the workers thereby avoiding many accidental needle pricks to the hands of the workers.
One type of needle-removing device includes a slot for inserting the needle. The slot grips the collar of the needle and the user then rotates the syringe thereby removing the needle from the syringe body. The needle drops downward into a container. When the container is full, the used needles are discarded.
The problem associated with this type of device is that it requires multiple hand movements by the user. The user must first insert the needle in a relatively small slot, engage the collar of the needle in the slot and thereafter twist the syringe body an appropriate number of turns to effectively remove the needle from the syringe body. Often, the collars of the needles will get caught in the slot and then the workers must remove the needle from the slot by hand or employ an additional instrument. Further, if the worker leaves the used needle disposed in the slot, the needle and bodily fluid remained exposed.
A second type of design includes a device where the needle is inserted into a hole or slot and an internal gear mechanism causes the needle and collar to be twisted off the syringe body. The problem associated with these types of design is that they require numerous parts to manufacture and are difficult to assemble. Many of these types of designs require multiple drive gears that are prone to failure. Further, these types of devices are also expensive to manufacture.
A third type of design includes an electric motor driven device that grabs the needle as it is inserted into a slot. The motor drives the gears which twist the needle off the syringe body. These devices are ineffective because it includes numerous parts and is therefore more expensive to manufacture. Further, the device must be located near an electric outlet.
Thus, there is a present need for an effective removing device that is easy to manufacture as well as easy to operate. The present invention satisfies this need by providing an effective needle-removing device that can be manufactured from as little as eight parts. The device is actuated by simple downward movement of the needle and syringe by the worker. The needle is automatically removed from the syringe body and ejected into a receptacle below the needle-removing device and away from the worker.